Change Starts Small
Beth and the very lovely folk at INTL invited me to sit on a panel last night.
The topic: “What the F**K is going on in the Scottish Design Industry?”
A bit of a foreboding question, eh?
And one which could imply chaos or decline.
But being an optimist, I see it as a recognition of change.
And change is quite groovy.
I sat in an audience of a thousand at last week’s INTL conference.
A thousand people. At a design event.
It felt more like a gig than a conference: a crowd of creative fans hanging on the words of Talia Cotton, Annie Atkins, Emily Oberman (and the rest).
The room was buzzing, full of banter, ideas and inspiration.
It was cool, hopeful even. It reminded me why this industry matters.
We did the AI chat, obviously. And yes, jobs are disappearing, grads are floundering, and the rest of us are hustling harder than ever.
(Do we still say hustle?)
But it absolutely did not feel like an industry in decline.
Change is happening whether we like it or not. We need to embrace it and keep going.
And surely us creative folk should find this slightly easier to handle?
It’s our home turf. Our default setting.
Our ideas get tested, refined and binned. And then we go again (and again).
We spend our days reading the room: new audiences, new platforms, new products,
new problems.
Change is literally the brief. It’s what we’re built to handle.
If nothing’s changing, maybe it’s on us?
For the graduates finding their way in, for the talent trying to stay, for the country punching above its weight.
We owe it a bit of movement.
So, at O Street, we’re making a small start.
From now on, we’re committing one day a month to spend with students, graduates, or anyone trying to find their way into the industry.
That might be a portfolio review, some honest career advice from the team, or just a blether over a cup of tea and a Tunnock’s Teacake.
Because if we want the industry to change, we need to show up for the people who’ll shape it next.
If you’d like to pop by, email opendoor@ostreet.co.uk
— Keli
